Kazakh Chronicles #2
(For the backstory, and explanation of the re-launching of these newsletters, read Kazakh Chronicle #1)
November 30, 2010
Dear friends and family,
So much to tell you about! I suggest you cozy up with your slab of horse meat and jug of fermented mare’s milk, take a load off and join me for a little virtual tour of Wackastan[1]. If you are pressed for time, you can always read this in segments. Don't worry, I won't be offended, and I'll even give you a week to read it before I schedule the quiz.
Kumis: fermented mare’s milk. The first, and only, time I had it, I thought the waiter was saying hummus. Which I love…
For starters, we've received our air shipment, which is fantastic! Thanks to Cork's[2] philosophy, we are completely unpacked so it is starting to feel like home already. We just have the pictures left to hang.
This week is the OSCE[3] Summit in Astana. Many of you will remember that while we lived in Vienna, Curtis worked for Canada's Delegation to the OSCE. Each year, the chairing country would host a ministerial, which means all the countries involved would send their ministers to meet and discuss key topics. This year, as it happens, the chair country is Kazakhstan. But a ministerial isn't good enough for them: they decided to host a Summit instead. So major world leaders are coming: Sarkozy, Merkel, the States are even sending Hillary Clinton. And good ol' Canada is sending Peter Kent[4], some junior minister that no one knows (aka former news anchor of Global TV). Well, I guess some people know him. I'm sure he is a very nice man and good at his job, but he's just not at the same level that the other countries are sending. So go ahead, just write Canada off now, we are no longer a country with any impact. Sometimes I am really embarrassed to be a Canadian.[5]
Anyway, as I mentioned last time, the President lives just across the river bank from us. And the conference centre is the Pyramid I was telling you about. So, we live on the main road that leads to where the summit is being held. This means that our apartment block is on pseudo lock-down. We can leave and come back, but we have to be registered, and it sounds very complicated, so I have elected to stay indoors this week. I will let you know when the cabin fever hits its peak. You don't need to worry about me, though, as I can get to the grocery store through the indoor parking lot, so I have all sorts of provisions. Maya on the other hand is stuck inside with me. We shall see how she fairs!
The Presidential Palace
Due to the nature of the event, we have been advised not to look out of our windows, or to use the fire escape, which as far as I can tell is the main staircase. Since we have that beautiful view of the presidential palace, I suppose the idea is a sniper could have a good shot from the dining room window. I don't think the sniper could get a good view from the stairwell, but maybe that is where ne'er-do-wells hang out in Kazakhstan. Anyway, so as to assure the good folk of Kazakhstan that I have no such nefarious intentions, I keep the curtains wide open, and am only looking out that window out of the corner of my eye.
I took this picture from my living room a week after the “looking out the window ban” was lifted, but I was pretty nervous. This was when the Olympic Torch came through Astana.
Curtis[6] has been working around the clock. Naturally, nothing is going according to plan, as the minister's plane was delayed yesterday, arriving at 2 in the morning instead of 11:30pm, necessitating the delay of the motorcade, and the delay for Curtis to meet the minister at the hotel to 3am. The summit officially starts Dec 1 and ends Dec 2. Our good friend Aleška is staying here with us, but it is questionable whether or not I will see her as she will be so busy. If she had more time, I would suggest she look at this e-zine to help her decide what to do in the city: http://edgekazakhstan.com/index.html [7]. However, as her time is limited, she can go shopping at the Mega mall, simply by viewing this YouTube video [8]:
I know for me, every time I get a little stir-crazy and I want to go shopping, I just watch the video and the feeling subsides.
Now for some useful tips that you, too, can do at home when you are snowed in, or not allowed to go to work because of snipers:
Vinegar works very well for cleaning glass, including vases. Don't worry, I won't be washing the windows this week!
Olive oil is an excellent remedy for extremely parched skin. I baste Maya with it regularly. And as it is so extremely dry here, I decided today was a good day to baste my own very chapped hands.
To save you the trouble of figuring this out on your own, I don't recommend cleaning your vases on the day your hands are slathered in olive oil - you won't get them any cleaner.
Alright, now for Maya news: she is still very cute. She has started kicking up her legs now. She likes dancing and getting her hair done. She misses all her friends (that is to say you guys) but is replacing you with very amusing monkeys and other safari critters. She thinks her mobile is super awesome (she is telling you about it right now) but I'm pretty sure the Chandeliers are still number one.
Taking care and steering clear of the windows,
Valerie
[1] My special name for Kazakhstan, for all the wacky and wonderful discoveries I made while living there.
[2] My husband
[3] Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
[4] My apologies to Mr. Kent. Maybe you were the perfect person for the job. Also, it’s worth bearing in mind I know absolutely nothing about politics.
[5] This is unfortunately very much still the case, particularly when it comes to the lack of emphasis Canada puts on the arts
[6] Same husband, other name
[7] Sadly this link no longer works, but you can try this: https://fearlessfemaletravels.com/things-to-do-in-astana-kazakhstan/ Although it is fairly recent, and the city has changed a lot, this looks like a pretty good representation of what there was to see when I lived there.
[8] This mall was pretty cool, but it didn’t have a beach built at the top of it. Or a rollercoaster that took you around the mall. The soundtrack to the video is sensational, though.
